At the time of those arrests, Gregory Paw, then director of the state’s Criminal Justice Division, noted that investigators were surprised by the gang’s level of financial sophistication, citing bank accounts and property ownership, but declining to elaborate further.

EWING — Forget drug-dealing, prostitution and gambling, as it appears at least some of New Jersey’s gangsters are taking their cues more from Wall Street than from the mob these days when it comes to making money.

That’s what the law enforcement community was saying yesterday when it announced the break-up of a massive bank fraud ring organized by Bloods gang members using sophisticated digital equipment to steal more than $300,000 from eight banks around the state.

“This investigation reveals the Bloods on new turf, defrauding banks of hundreds of thousands of dollars using counterfeit checks,” said New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram. “Just as we have targeted the financial crimes of traditional organized crime through the years, we will crush any inroads by street gangs into these activities, which could bankroll more drug dealing and death.”

A total of 33 people, including eight reputed members of the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the Bloods, have been charged in the scheme that involved more than $654,000 in counterfeit checks, Milgram said.

She said charges from “Operation Blood Bank” stem from a gang bust in 2007 in which 46 members of the Nine Trey Gangsters were charged with various crimes, including racketeering, drug trafficking, money laundering and murder.